The new Google Search Console, which has been in the beta phase since the beginning of the year, was finally rolled out in September this year. The Google Search Console (former Webmaster Tools) now offers not only a new design, but also new features.
Since the Google Search Console is still one of the most important SEO tools, we would like to discuss the most important changes in the new interface in this blog post.
The new Google Search Console offers users various reports to check the performance of their website:
- Check the website with the Index Coverage Status report.
- See Search Analytics data for the last 16 months in the Performance report.
- Check the links that lead to your website in the Links report.
- Check how Google crawled your website content using the URL Inspection tool.
The New Interface
At first glance, the new interface is much clearer than the previous version.
Reports can now be opened simply by clicking the “Open Report” button.
Reports
One of the most important changes is that data for the last 16 months can now be displayed instead of just the last 90 days. This allows to compare data with the previous year.
URL Inspection
With URL Inspection, live testing and indexing requests are now possible.
Index Coverage
With the Index Coverage Status report, you can find out which pages on your website have been indexed and how to correct errors on pages that could not be indexed. In the graph, each column shows the total number of URLs that have a certain status, such as “Error” or “Valid”.
Links
The new interface also provides a better overview of the links. The external links now show the top linked pages.
According to Google, there are differences between the reports in the new Google Search Console and the reports from the previous version of Google Search Console. This problem has already been identified and Google says that the data in the new report is more accurate than in the old “Links to your site” report. As a result, the values in the new report are sometimes lower, but this does not directly mean that the number of links has decreased. Google would like to point out that in the new reports, reporting is more accurate and secure.
New Filter in Search Analysis
The Search Analysis report shows you how often your website appears in Google search results. You can group and filter the data by categories such as search query, date, or device. With the new filter, you can filter by query, page, clicks, impressions, CTR (click-through rate), or positions.
In summary, the new Google Search Console:
- Is available on mobile.
- Provides more insights in the reports.
- Shows the user workflow.
- Is more process-oriented.
- Helps problems be detected more quickly.
- Ensures data is more profound.
- Allows optimizations to be carried out directly.
- Allows reports to be shared directly.
Status of the Roll-out of the New Google Search Console
Google wanted to launch the new Search Console as soon as possible. Therefore, there are still some features that have not yet been implemented. Google wants feedback on the new Google Search Console to create a stable and working system. In the Google Webmaster Central Blog, feedback can be sent to Google in the form of comments. In the Google Search Interface there is also the option to send feedback directly to Google.
In summary, new versions of existing systems – like the implementation of the new Google Ads Interface earlier this year – are always a change of pace. The structure of a new interface is usually different from the old interface. With the new Google Search Console, many functions have been combined and partially unnamed.
Currently, users can still use both versions of the Google Search Console, but sources report that not all functions have yet been fully implemented in the new interface. It is still unclear when a complete change over to the new interface will take place.
